Well swab



Dec. 4, 1962 P. GRANDSTAFF 3,056,514

WELL SWAB Original Filed May 2, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet l Per/y 6/00 04!zaff INVENTOR.

Dec. 4, 1962 P. GRANDSTAFF 3,066,614

WELL SWAB Original Filed May 2, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Perry 6/00 a; faff INVENTOR.

BYWE Z.

ATTORNEY Dec. 4, 1962 P. GRANDSTAFF 3,066,614

WELL SWAB Original Filed May 2, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Perry Grands f0 ffINVENTOR.

BY@ W ATTORNEY 3&66514 WELL SWAlB Perry Grandstati, Okiahorna Qity,Gina, assignor to American Iron 8: Machine Worirs Company, inn, OkiahomaCity, Okla, a corporation oi Delaware Continuation of appiication SEE.No. 95,199, May 2, 1955. This appiication Sept. 26, 196i Ser. No.58,576.

16 Claims. (Cl. 103-225) This invention pertains to well swabs.

This application is a continuation of my prior copending applicationentitled Well Swab Serial No. 505,309, filed May 2, 1955, now abandoned.

An object of the invent-ion is to provide a well swab having packerunits which can be readily connected in series to form a swab having asmany packer units as desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide a multiple packer unitwell swab in which the connections between the packer units areflexible.

Another object of the invention is to provide a multiple packer unitswab in which there are pivotal connections allowing pivoting of theunits about horizontal axes having different azimuthal positions.

A further object of the invention is to provide a multiple packer unitswab in which the units cannot be disconnected while they are in thewell.

Another object of the invention is to provide a multiple packer unitswab which can readily be broken at the connection between any adjacentunits for the purpose of replacing a unit or any part thereof such asthe packer cup.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a swab having acombined guide and scraper unit below the packer unit or units.

Another object of the invention is to provide a swab having a separateadapter unit for connecting the uppermost swab unit to the rope socketwhereby all the swab units can be identical.

A further object of the invention is to provide a swab in which theconnections between the packer unit or units and the guide and adapterunits, like the connections between packer units, are flexibie,inseparable in the well, and easily unmade out of the well, and pivotabout axes having different azimuthal positions.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved packerunit in which the cup or packer is free to rotate to prevent binding andis axially slidable between a lower position sealing with the body ofthe unit and an upper position in which there is a passage between thebody and packer to allow well fiuid to flow freely through the swab whenthe swab is being run into the well.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved packer or cupwhose upper lip is free to flex into sealing engagement with the wellpipe yet will not be come caught in the space between pipe ends wherethey are coupled together.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment thereof wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation, partly in section, through a single packerunit swab embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal section on line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section on line 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an elevation of the adapter unit taken at right angles toFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is an elevation of the body of the packer unit taken at 90degrees to FIGURE 1;

hired dtates Fatent Qt" 3,055,614 Fatented Dec. 4, 1962 wit FIGURE 6 isa vertical section through the packer cup of the packer unit;

FIGURE 7 is an elevation of the guide unit taken at right angles toFIGURE 1;

FEGURES 8A-8B are an elevation showing the relative positions of theadapter unit and the upper end of the packer unit preparatory toconnecting them or immediately after disconnecting them;

FIGURE "9 is an elevation of the lower end of the packer unit and theguide unit showing the relative positions thereof midway in theconnecting or disconnecting thereof; and

FiGURE 10 is an elevation showing a multiple packe'r unit swab embodyingthe invention.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown a single packer unit wellswab. At the upper end of the swab is an adapter unit 20 having athreaded pin 21 at its upper end adapted to engage a socket in. a member22 connected to a wire line or other suspension means. As shown also inFIGURES 4 and 8A there are flat portions 23 on the sides of the adapterunit for engagement with a wrench in making up the pin 21 in socketmember 22.. At the lower end of the adapter is a pin 25 of smallerdiameter than the midportion of the adapter. Pin 25 carries a pair ofcoaxial pivots 27. The pivots are generally cylindrical but have twodiametrically opposite fiat sides 2?.

Below the adapter 26 there is shown, in FIGURE 1, a packer unit 40comprising a body 41 in. the form of an elongated member having a lowercylindrical portion 42 and a fluted portion of reduced cross-sectionalarea formed by ribs 43. The lower portions of the ribs have the sameradius as cylindrical portion 42 but the upper portions above shoulders44 are of larger radius, preferably equal to that of the uppercylindrical portion 45 of body 4-1. There is a ring 46, preferably ofthe same radius as the ribs 43, secured to the body below shoulder 54 toprovide a stop of larger area than shoulders 44. At the upper end of thebody 41 is a member 53 forming part of means to connect the packer unitto another unit of the swab, member 53 being preferably of largerdiameter than cylindrical portion 45 of the body of the unit.

Connection member 53 comprises a cylindrical socket 54, as shown best inFIGURE 5, adapted to receive pin 25 of the correlative connection memberon the lower end of the adapter 26 or another packer unit. Atdiametrically opposite sides of the socket are formed two bearings 55adapted to receive pivots 27 of the correlative connection member of theadapter unit or another packer unit. The bearings 55 and socket 54 areopen at one side to allow entry of pin 25 and pivots 27. However, theside openings 56 in the bearings are only wide enough to receive thenarrow dimension of pivots 2.7 so that the connection can only be madeup or separated when the adjoining units at right angles as shown in FlRA-8B and 9. This type of connection is termed a knuckle joint.

At the lower end of the body 41 there is formed a connection membercomprising a pin and two pivots, the same as at the lower end of theadapter unit. 20. The pin functions as a neck connecting the body 41 tothe pivots, and the socket 54 thus forms a. neck receiving recess. Theaxis of the pivots is at right angle to the aXiS of the pivot receivingsocket provided by bearings 55.

being larger than opening 61 and thus spaced from the .9 lower smallerflutes 43 and adapted to slide over ring 46 and the upper larger portionof flutes Extending up from the inner periphery of the base of thepacker at the annular shoulder formed between openings 61 and 62 is anannular wall inclined inwardly upward to provide a lip 63 for sealing onbody portion 4-2 when packer 6%? is in its lowermost position. Opening62 flares upwardly except for portions 65 forming stiffening ribs whichmerge with inwardly tapering fingers 66 on the upper end of the packerwhich serve as guides. Ring 4-6 provides a means to bridge between theribs forming an azimuthally continous hearing so that the ribs 65 cannotenter between the ribs 43. A metal cup ring 67 molded to the bottom ofthe packer serves to support it when it rests on the knuckle jointtherebe'low in the lowermost position of the packer.

Beneath packer unit 40 is a guide and scraper unit 743 having on itsupper end a socket member like that on the upper end of packer unit 40connected to the pin and pivot member on the lower end of packer unit40. The maximum radius of these socket members is greater than theradius of opening 61 in the packer 60 so as to provide a stop limitingdownward motion thereof.

The lower end of unit 76 comprises three flutes 71 having a largerradial extent than the connection member at the upper end of the unit'71 and of the same radial extent as packer 60. The ribs 7! guide theswab down the well pipe and scrape any paraffin or other obstruction outof the way.

Instead of using just one packer unit 46}, a number of them can beserially connected as shown in FIGURE 10. It will be noted that eachunit is rotated ninety degrees relative to the adjacent units. By makingthe rotation always in the same direction as shown, the string of unitswill be able to flex in four difierent azimuthal directions relative tothe axis of the swab.

In using the swab, units will be connected by placing them at rightangles as shown in FIGURES 8A-8B and then engaged as shown in P 9 andthen turned into alignment as shown in FIGURES 1 and 10. The knucklejoints permit flexure of the string of units forming the swab so it canpass through crooked pipe. Going down the well the packer 6t; will be inits uppermost position, shown in 9, in which fluid can pass throughopening between flutes 43. The large area of stop prevents damage to lip63 abutting thereagainst. On the upstroke the packers will be down asshown in FIGURE 1, metal cup ring 67 resting on the upper end of theguide and scraper unit 76 and bridging across the open side of theknuckle joint. At the same time lip 63 will be sealing againstcylindrical body portion 42 and the outer portion of the packer will besealing against the well pipe, so that oil or other fluid in the wellabove the packer will be lifted. in going through couplings there willbe no likelihood of the packer catching on the end of a pipe since thefingers 66 following large knuckle joint 53 will guide the cups into thepipe. The unit are disassembled by turning them to the FIGURE 9 positionand thus moving them apart as shown in FIGURES SA-SB. When a packer isworn, its unit can be separated from the unit below without disturbingthe other connections of the string and the worn out packer stripped offand replaced.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, many modifications thereof can be made by one skilled in theart without departing from the spirit of the invention and it is desiredto cover by Letters Patent all forms of the invention covered by thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. A well swab packer unit comprising a body having a cylindricalportion and a portion thereabove of reduced cross-sectional area, apacker of rubbery material having a portion forming a base with acylindrical opening therethrough surrounding and axially slidable onsaid body and adapted to fit closely around said cylindrical bodyportion when in a lower position adjacent thereto but leaving a passagethrough said cylindrical opening around said reduced area body portionwhen said packer is in an elevated position relative to said body, saidpacker having an outer annular wall integral with said base extending upfrom the outer periphery of said base and an inner annular wall integralwith said base extending up from the inner periphery of said base, theinner diameter of said outer annular wall being greater than that ofsaid cylindrical opening, said inner annular wall having an innercylindrical surface equal in diameter to that of said cylindricalopening and an outermost surface tapering inwardly upwardly to form alip adapted to seal with said cylindrical portion of said body when saidpacker is in said lower position.

2. A well swab packer unit comprising a body having a cylindricalportion and a portion thereabove of reduced cross-sectional area, apacker of rubbery material having a portion forming a base with acylindrical opening therethrough surrounding and axially slidable onsaid body and adapted to fit closely around said cylindrical bodyportion when in a lower position adjacent thereto but leaving a passagethrough said cylindrical opening around said reduced area body portionwhen said packer is in an elevated position relative to said body, saidpacker having an outer annular wall integral with said base extending upfrom the outer periphery of said base and an inner annular wall integralwith said base extending up from the inner periphery of said base, theinner diameter of said outer annular wall being greater than that ofsaid cylindrical opening, said inner annular wall having an innercylindrical surface equal in diameter to that of said cylindricalopening and an outermost surface tapering inwardly upwardly to form alip adapted to seal with said cylindrical portion of said body when saidpacker is in said lower position, said body portion of reduced areabeing fluted, the radius of the lower part of the fluted portion beingequal to that of said cylindrical portion of the body and the radius ofthe upper part of the fluted portion being equal ot the minimum internalradial dimension of said outer wall of the packer whereby said outerwall fits slidingly on the upper part of said fluted portion.

3. A well swab packer unit comprising a body having a cylindricalportion and a portion thereabove of reduced cross-sectional area, apacker of rubbery material having a portion forming a base with acylindrical opening therethrough surrounding and axially slidable onsaid body and adapted to fit closely around said cylindrical bodyportion when in a lower position adjacent thereto but leaving a passagethrough said cylindrical opening around said reduced area body portionwhen said packer is in an elevated position relative to said body, saidpacker having an outer annular wall integral with said base extending upfrom the outer periphery of said base and an inner annular wall integralwith said base extending up from the inner periphery of said base, theinner diameter of said outer annular wall being greater than that ofsaid cylindrical opening, said inner annular wall having an innercylindrical surface equal in diameter to that of said cylindricalopening and an outermost surface tapering inwardly upwardly to form alip adapted to seal with said cylindrical portion of said body when saidpacker is in said lower position, said body portion of reduced areabeing fluted, the radius of the lower part of the fluted portion beingequal to that of said cylindrical portion of the body and the radius ofthe upper part of the fluted portion being equal to the minimum internalradial dimension of said outer wall of the packer whereby said outerwall fits slidingly on the upper part of said fluted portion, and meanson said body bridging the flutes and forming a peripherally continuousannular bearing to support the inner surface of said outer annular wallof the packer, said outer wall of said packer having an inner surfaceflaring upwardly and provided with integral interior stiffening ribswhose inner surfaces extend parallel to the axis of the packer over saidbridging means. 4. A Well swab packer comprising a rubbery sleeve havinga base with cylindrical opening therethrough and having inner and outerannular lips concentric with said opening extending upwardly therefrom,the inner lip having an inner cylindrical surface of the same diameteras said opening, the outer lip having an inner surface that flaresupwardly, there being a metal ring beneath the lower end of said baseconcentric with said opening and extending therearound, said outer liphaving vertical reinforcing ribs integral therewith on the innerperiphery thereof extending radially therewithin and extendingvertically thereabove providing guide fingers, said guide fingers beingfree at their upper ends to move outwardly with the outer lip to allowthe outer lip to seal with a well wall when the packer is loaded withfluid and to move inwardly with the outer lip when the packer isunloaded, the innermost surfaces of said ribs forming portions of avertical-axis cylindrical surface when the packer is unloaded wherebythey are adapted to slide up and down on a circular bearing therewithin.

5. A well swab comprising a plurality of elongated units disposed end toend in a line and adapted to be lowered into a well, at least one ofsaid units including packer means to seal with the well wall duringlifting of the swab but providing fluid by-pass passage means during thelowering of the swab, each pair of adjacent ends of said units beingconnected together by a quickly attachable and detachable pivot jointallowing angular misalignment of the axes of the units, each pivot jointcomprising a pin extending down from the lower end of the upper unit ofthe pair, a bearing member extending up from the upper end of the lowerunit of the pair, and means on said pin and bearing member forming aknuckle joint therebetween including a pivot on the lower end of saidpin having a greater longitudinal extent in the direction of the lengthof its respective unit than its transverse extent in a directiontransverse to the length of said unit, said pin having a lateral extentsmaller than the lateral extent of said pivot in a directionperpendicular to said length of the unit and at right angles to saidtransverse extent of said pivot, said bearing member having a lateralhole therethrough adapted to receive said pivot and having an opening ina side thereof below the uppermost part of said hole extending from saidhole radially outward from the axis of the length of the unit, theheight of said opening being smaller than said longitudinal extent ofthe pivot but larger than said transverse extent thereof suificient toreceive said pivot when inserted with its longitudinal extent at rightangles to the length of the unit of the said hearing member, saidbearing member having an opening in the top thereof extendinglongitudinally of the unit from the upper extremity of the bearingmember to said hole therein and extending transverse 1y to the length ofthe unit from the outer periphery of the bearing member on the same sideas the first said opening toward the opposite side of the bearing memberpast the longitudinal axis thereof a distance greater than thecorresponding transverse extent ofsaid pin suificient to receive saidpin, said top opening merging with the first said opening in the side ofthe bearing member,

the lateral extent of said top opening being larger than that of saidpin but smaller than that of said pivot so that after said pivot hasbeen inserted in said hole in said bearing member through the first saidopening the pin can be moved through said top opening into a position insaid bearing member with the axis of the upper unit aligned with that ofthe lower unit,

the axes of the pivot on each pin being azimuthally displaced ninetydegrees from the axes of the lateral holes of the bearing members of thepivot joints immediately above and below, said one unit comprising abody having a cylindrical portion at its lower end just above said pinextending down therefrom,

the portion of said body above said cylindrical portion being fluted andof reduced cross-sectional area,

the radius of the lower part of the fluted portion being equal to thatof said cylindrical portion of the body and the radius of the upper partof the fluted portion being larger than that of said lower portionforming shoulders at the juncture of said upper and lower flutedportions of the body,

means on said body below said shoulders and adjacent thereto bridgingthe flutes and forming an annular bearing having a continuous downwardlyfacing plane surface and a peripherally continuous cylindrical surfaceof a radius equal to that of said upper part of the fluted portion ofthe body, said packer means comprising a sleeve of rubbery materialhaving at its lower end a portion forming a base with a cylindricalopening therethrough surrounding and axially slidable on said body andadapted to fit closely around said cylindrical body portion when in alower position adjacent thereto but leaving a passage through saidcylindrical opening around said reduced axis body portion when saidpacker is in an elevated position relative to said body, said packermeans havmg an outer annular wall integral with said base extending upfrom the outer periphery of said base and an inner annular wall integralwith said base extending up from the inner periphery of said base, saidinner annular wall having an inner cylindrical surface equal in diameterto that of said cylindrical opening in said base and an outermostsurface tapering inwardly upwardly to form an inner lip adapted to sealwith said cylindrical portion of said body when said packer means is insaid lower position,

the upper edge of said inner lip being engageable with said downwardlyfacing plane surface of said annular bearing to limit the upward travelof said packer means relative to said body, said outer annular wallhaving an inner surface that flares upwardly, forming an outer lip, saidouter lip having vertical reinforcing ribs integral therewith on theinner periphery thereof extending radially therewithin and extendingvertically thereabove providing guide fingers, said guide fingers beingfree at their upper ends to move outwardly with said outer lip to allowthe outer lip to seal with a well wall when the packer means is loadedwith fluid and to move inwardly with the outer lip when the packer meansis unloaded,

the innermost surfaces of said ribs forming when said packer means isunloaded vertically extending portions of a vertical axis cylindricalsurface of a diameter equal to that of said peripherally continuoussurface of said bearing means whereby they are adapted to slide up anddown thereon,

the diameter of said cylindrical portion of the body being larger thanthe maximum dimension of said aoeaei pin and pivot at right angles tothe length of said unit whereby said sleeve can be assembled to said oneunit by passing over the lower end thereof when said pivot joint isdisconnected but being smaller than the maximum dimension of said pivotjoint bearing member at right angles to the length of said unit wherebywhen said one unit is connected to the unit therebelow, said bearingmember forms a stop limiting downward travel of the sleeve,

said sleeve having a metal ring around said base portion at its lowerend adapted to seat on the upper end of said bearing member and bridgeacross the gap formed by the opening in the side thereof so as toprovide solid support for the rubbery sleeve continuously around itslower periphery.

6. A well swab comprising a plurality of elongated units disposed end toend in a line and adapted to be lowered into a well, at least one ofsaid units including packer means to seal with the well wall duringlifting of the swab but providing fluid by-pass passage means during thelowering of the swab, each pair of adjacent ends of said units beingconnected together by a knuckle joint, each knuckle joint comprising apin extending down from the lower end of the upper unit of the pairhaving pivot means extending transversely to the pin at the lower endthereof and a bearing member extending up from the upper end of thelower unit of the pair having a vertical socket therein adapted toreceive said pin and having a transverse hole therethrough adapted toreceive said pivot means, said bearing member having an opening in itsside communicating with said socket and hole to admit said pin and pivotmeans therethrough, said one unit comprising a body having a cylindricalportion at its lower end just above the said pin extending downtherefrom, the portion of said body above said cylindrical portion beingfluted, said packer means comprising a sleeve of rubbery material havingat its lower end an internal diameter adapted to fit slidably on saidcylindrical portion of the body, the diameter of said cylindricalportion of the body being larger than the maximum transverse dimensionof said pin and pivot means whereby said sleeve can be assembled to saidone unit by passing over the lower end thereof but being smaller thanthe maximum transverse dimension of said bearing member whereby whensaid one unit is connected to the unit therebelow the bearing memberforms a stop limiting downward travel of the sleeve, said sleeve havinga metal ring around its lower end adapted to seat on the upper end ofsaid bearing member and bridge across the gap formed by the opening inthe side thereof so as to provide solid support for the rubbery sleevecontinuously around its lower periphery, said lower end of said sleevehaving projecting upwardly therefrom concentric inner and outer lipsadapted to seal with said cylindrical body portion and the well wallrespectively when said swab is being raised and said sleeve is in itslowermost position on said one unit, said inner lip and lower end of thesleeve sliding up above said cylindrical body portion onto said flutedportion of the body during downward travel of the swab to allow fluid toby-pass said packer means.

7. A well swab comprising a plurality of elongated units disposed end toend in a line and adapted to be lowered into a well, at least one ofsaid units including packer means to seal with the well wall duringlifting of the swab but providing fluid by-pass passage means during thelowering of the swab, each pair of adjacent ends of said units beingconnected together by a knuckle joint, each knuckle joint comprising apin extending down from the lower end of the upper unit of the pairhaving pivot means extending transversely to the pin at the lower endthereof and a bearing member extending up from the upper end of thelower unit of the pair having a vertical socket therein adapted toreceive said pin and having a transverse hole ths'ethrough adapted toreceive said ivot means, said bearing member having an opening in itsside communicating with said socket and hole to admit said pin and pivotmeans there-through, said one unit comprising a body having acylindrical portion at its lower end just above the said pin extendingdown therefrom, the portion of said body above said cylindrical portionbeing fluted, said packer means com rising a s eeve of rubbery materialhaving at its lower end an ternal diameter adapted to fit slidably onsaid cylindrical portion of the body, the diameter of said cylindricalportion of the body being larger than the maximum transverse dimensionof said pin and pivot means whereby said sleeve can be assembled to saidone unit by passing over the lower end thereof but being smaller thanmaximum transverse dimension of said bearing memoer whereby when saidone unit is connected to the unit therebelow the bearing member forms astop limiting downward travel of the sleeve, said sleeve having a metalring around its lower end adapted to seat on the upper end of saidbearing member and bridge across the gap termed by the opening in theside thereof so as to provide solid support for the rubbery sleevecontinuously around its lower periphery, said lower end of said sleevehavint projecting upwardly therefrom concentric inner and outer lipsadapted to seal with said cylindrical body portion and the well wallrespectively when said swab is being raised and said sleeve is in itslowermost position on said one unit, said inner lip and lower end of thesleeve sliding up above said cylindrical body portion onto said flutedportion of the body during downward travel of the swab to allow fluid toby-pass said packer means, said fluted portion of the body having ametal ring extending therearound spaced above said cylindrical portionproviding a stop enga geable by said inner lip to limit the upwardtravel of said sleeve during lowering of the swab into a well, said stopring bridging said flutes to provide a continuous support for said innerlip all around its periphery, said outer lip having an inner surfaceflaring upwardly and provided with vertical reinforcing ribs extendinginwardly and adapted to slide on the outer surface of said stop ring.

8. A well swab comprising a plurality of elongated units disposed end toend in a line and adapted to be lowered into a well, at least one unitincluding packer means to seal with the well Wall during lifting of theswab and means to by-pass fluid during the lowering of the swab, eachpair of adjacent ends of said units being connected together by aknuckle joint, each knuckle joint comprising a downwardly extending pinon the lower end of the upper member of the pair of units having pivotmeans extending transversely to the pin at its lowermost end, and anupwardly extending bearing member on the upper end of the lower memberof the pair of units, said bearing member having a vertical socketadapted to receive said pin and a hole transverse to said socket adaptedto receive said pivot means, said bearing member havan opening in theside thereof communicating with said socket and hole and large enough topass said pin and also said pivot means when said pin is disposed withits axis transverse to the socket axis, the axis of the pivot means ofeach pin being azimuthally displaced ninety degrees from the axes of theknuckle joints immediately above and below.

9. A well swab comprising a plurality of elongated units disposed end toend in a line and adapted to be lowered into a well, at least one ofsaid units including packer means to seal with the well wall duringlifting of the swab and means to bypass fluid during the lowering of theswab, each pair of adjacent ends of said units being connected togetherby a quickly attachable and detachable knuckle joint, each knuckle jointcomprising hook shaped means forming a bearing on one unit and hookengaging means on the adjacent unit adapted to be engaged with the hookshaped bearing and to pivot about an axis therein, the hook shape ofsaid bearing providing an opening along one side of the bearing and saidhook engaging means having an elongated cross-section transverse to saidaxis whose maximum lengthwise dimension is larger than said opening andwhose maximum transverse dimension is smaller than said opening, theelongation of the cross-section of said hook engaging means being in thedirection of the elongation of said units, the position of said openingin the side of said hook shaped bearing being such that a line joiningthe midpoint of the opening and said axis of said bearing is transverseto the length of said one unit, whereby it is necessary to place theadjacent unit with its length similarly transverse to the length of saidone unit to separate the units by moving said hook engaging meansthrough said opening, such relative placement of the units beingimpossible while the swab is in the well so that its units cannot becomeseparated, and whereby when the units are in the well and said knucklejoints are in tension the hook engaging means is not trying to pull freethrough said side opening in the bearing but instead is fully supportedfrom below by the hook shaped bearing.

10. A well swab comprising a plurality of elongated units disposed endto end in a line and adapted to be lowered into a well, at least one ofsaid units including packer means to seal with the well wall duringlifting of the swab and means to by-pass fluid during the lowering ofthe swab, each pair of adjacent ends of said units being connectedtogether by a quickly attachable and detachable pivot joint allowingangular misalignment of the axes of the units, each pivot jointcomprising socket means forming a bearing on one unit and socketengaging means including a pivot connected to the adjacent unit, saidpivot having a greater length in the direction of the length of the unitthan transverse thereto, said pivot being connected to said adjacentunit by a neck of smaller dimension transverse to the length of saidunits than the transverse dimensions of said pivot, said socket meanshaving an opening in a side thereof above the bottom of the socket andfacing radially outward from the axis of length of the unit, saidopening being smaller than said length of the pivot but larger than thetransverse dimensions thereof and adapted to receive said pivot wheninserted with its length at right angles to the length of the unit, saidsocket means having an opening in the bottom thereof extending laterallyfrom the center of the socket means all the way to the outer peripherythereof to merge with said opening in the side of the socket means, saidopening in the bottom of the socket means being of larger transversedimension than said neck but smaller than said pivot, whereby after saidpivot has been inserted in said socket means through the small openingthe neck can be moved laterally through said bottom opening into saidsocket.

11. A well swab packer support body comprising an elongated metal memberadapted to carry a packer thereon, one end of said body having a pinextending longitudinally therefrom with a pivot means extendingtransverse to the pin at the extremity thereof, the other end of saidbody having a bearing member extending longitudinally therefrom with alongitudinal socket therein and having a hole extending transverselytherethrough, the side of said bearing member having an opening thereincommunicating with said socket and hole and large enough to admit thepin and pivot means of a like body, the axis of said hole in the bearingmember being dis placed azimuthally from the axis of said pivot means byninety degrees.

12. A well swab packer support body comprising an elongated memberincluding a central portion adapted to carry a packer therearound,

a neck extending longitudinally from one end of the central portion,

a pivot at the end of the neck,

said neck connecting the pivot to said central portion,

a bearing member extending longitudinally from the other end of saidcentral portion, said bearing member having a pivot receiving socket anda neck receiving recess in the side of the bearing member, said recesshaving a height in the direction of the length of said elongated memberextending from the end of said bearing member to said socket and havinga depth in a direction transverse to the length of the elongated memberextending from the side of the bearing member toward the opposite sidethereof past the axis of said elongated member at least as far as saidneck, and having a width in adirection transverse to the length of theelongated member and to said depth at least as great as said neck, saidsocket having a width greater than the width of said recess, saidbearing member having an opening in the side thereof communicating withsaid socket and with said recess, said opening having a width greaterthan said recess, and

a height smaller than the height of said pivot but larger than adimension of said pivot transverse to the length of said elongatedmember.

13. Combination according to claim 12 wherein said socket has a circularcross-section and the cross-section of said pivot is generally circularincluding two parallel traight line chords and two circular arcs, saidchords extending in the direction of the length of said elongatedmember, and said dimension of said pivot transverse to the length ofsaid member being the distance between said chords.

l4. Combination according to claim 12 wherein the thickness of saidcentral portion measured transverse to the length of said member issmaller than that of said bearing member and greater than that of saidneck, and said pivot has a greater extent transverse to the length ofsaid member than said width of said recess.

15. Combination according to claim 14 wherein said central portion isfluted over a part of its length, said flutes terminating short of oneend of said central portion, the last said end being the lowest end ofsaid central portion and being cylindrical providing a sealing surface,and including a swab packer having a cylindrical bore slidably disposedon said central portion adapted to seal with said sealing surface in alower position on said central portion and to bypass fluid through saidflutes in an upper position thereon, the bore of said packer beinglarger than said transverse extent of the pivot but smaller than saidthickness of the bearing member.

16. In a well swab,

a packer support body comprising an elongated member including a centralportion adapted to carry a packer therearound;

another member disposed with one of its ends adjacent to an end of saidelongated member; and

means pivotally connecting said members; the last said means including aneck extending longitudinally at the end of one of said members,

a pivot at the end of said neck,

said neck connecting the pivot to the remainder of said one member,

a bearing member extending longitudinally from the end of the othermember adjacent said end of said one member, said bearing member havinga pivot receiving socket and a neck receiving recess in the side of thebearing memher, said recess having a height in the direction of thelength of said elongated member extending from the end of said hearingmember to said socket and having a depth in a direction transverse tothe length of the elongated member extending from the side of thehearing member toward the opposite side thereof past the axis of saidelongated member at least as far as said neck, and having Width in adirection transverse to the length of the elongated member and to saiddepth at least as great as said neck, said socket having a Width greaterthan the Width of said recess, said hearing member having ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Campbell Nov. 1,1938 Crickrner Sept. 26, 1944 Bowerman et a1. Apr. 5, 1949 Wilson et a1.Nov. 25, 1952

